On the Other Side
by Padfoot's Fire
Summary: After the series Edward's life on the other side of the door cont. Alchemy is forbidden, what happens when an alchemist hunter learns of their profession?
1. Chapter 1

On the Other Side of the Door

"Eddie!", Mr. Elric called in a panic. "Ed, Ed come here, it's important."

Said boy wandered into the kitchen, his face depicting one who is in a total lack of enthusiasm. He had been having a good dream, his first in weeks actually. And his father just had to wake him up.

"Can you _please _run to the store for me boy? We're out of half and half." Mr. Elric's face was one of desperation, that was the saddest part of the entire travesty. The man was like a bear before his morning coffee.

"Are you joking right now? Tell me your joking, you got me up to get you half and half!" Ed normally would have been fine getting up to do a chore. When he was younger he always had to help around the house, at least a little bit for his mother. But his father had woken him up almost every day now for some inexplicably stupid reason, whether it be to fetch cream or fix the television. It was getting out of hand. To establish his position he declared "Get it yourself".

Looking disgruntled the man did the last thing he wanted to do. He reached regrettably into his pocket and withdrew, a piece of chalk. He drew a pentacle upon the counter top and slapped his hands on the surface. Smoke disturbed the air for a moment before it cleared, revealing a new carton of half and half. Ed's father sharply plucked it from the counter, flipped the lid and with feeling poured it into his coffee mug. With too much feeling however as it spilt and made a small mess before he chucked it angrily into the fridge.

Ed was furious, "Just what do you think your doing?", he yelled. Caution evident in his voice he whispered "you know it's forbidden. They burn people for that here. Do you want to get us killed?"

Mr. Elric replied solumly "I just wanted some cream for my coffee. Sorry."

Ed, now awake, marched back into his room, closing the door carefully. He looked a wreck. His hair was out of it's customary braid, having slept with it out and was itching his naked back. He had bags under his eyes, though not as bad as per usual. He didn't often sleep well, haunted by nightmares from war and the events with the homunculi naught but two months ago. His face was blemished with teenage pimples, whether from stress or puberty was anyone's guess. His clothes even were in poor condition, he and his father had no money. They weren't certified for any job in this place, no legal one.

Worst of all was his look of hopelessness, what had happened to his brother? How could he live a life here? At first it had seemed like a new beginning, he could start over with his father and do something completely unrelated to the government and military. He had ambitions of being a mechanic, like Winfrey. That was before he learned the rules about alchemy. The science was looked upon like old witch craft, it was a sin and wrong. It was what he did! He loved it, and now he couldn't even do that. The penalty, was death. If you got caught.

And so here he was, pouting and speculating on his own misery. With a sigh he sat up and surveyed his room. Room, it was more like a walk in closet,big for a closet, small for a living space. He had no room for a dresser, his clothes were supposed to be hung up on a wire he had strung halfway across the opposite wall. As it was, they were gathering dust on the floor. He didn't have much, a stack of paper he used to write his thoughts on, a few pencils and hidden under his bed was another bunch of papers. Secrets, he was working on a new branch in alchemy. Very illegal, dangerous and probably would end up leading to his death. Almost certainly in fact.

Human transmutation had proved in the past to be a horrible, bloody mess. But all those alchemists were attempting to change another person. He planned to change himself. It would be the ultimate defense, and sometimes an offense. If he could transmutate himself into a creature at will, and still be able to change back, well lets just say his father would be extremely jealous of his success.

The drive to succeed in this venture is to return home. To Winrey and that empty armour that was Alphonse, his life and even Colonel Mustang. If he went through the door as another creature, there was a change however ridiculously small, that he would go unrecognized. The beings let things through all the time, alchemists messing with the universe. He once found a toy in the forest near his home when he was little. He had thought it was from the city. Now he knew it was from a technologically advanced community. He was going to sneak home.

"Gurulurp" his stomach growled effectively pulling him out of his musings. He grabbed a t shirt and a pair of shorts. He stepped into the hallway and made for the kitchen, nothing hung on the wall save a bit of old out of date wallpaper. The manager of their apartment really ought to remodel or something.

Mr. Elric wasn't in the kitchen and his nerves relaxed. He opened the fridge intending to get butter for some toast, only to find they were out of that too. A vein in his temple pulsed and he let out a frustrated growl. He really shouldn't use alchemy, he'd have to go to the store. Glancing through the fridge it slowly dawned on him that they had very little for lunch and supper. They needed groceries, and money to buy them with. Wait, he had a better idea.

"Eh, Dad." he called throughout the house.

"Ya?" was heard just above a whisper from living room, the man was probably watching the news.

"We need food for diner. Can you get another loan from the bank?" In truth Ed already knew the answer to that. The only reason they'd gotten a loan before was that they appeared wealthy with their nice clothes. The banker likely as not had assumed they were just in a rough spot. Now however, even with their better clothes they looked poor. Did they have running water for a shower? No, that was one of the reasons why their apartment was so cheap.

"No, they won't give us another one, we still haven't paid off the last one son. We still have some bread left, we can have that for supper." There was silence for a moment while they both considered starving the next day before his dad added "I got a job as waiter at a restaurant down on Birch street. I start work on Tuesday."

"Really? Why'd they, that's great. I'm going for a walk, I'll be back later." Ed grabbed a slice of bread to chew on, his coat and gloves and was out. The summer sun was scorching, within minutes he was sweating. It was too hot to wear a stupid coat. He had to though to cover his auto mail. Here, in this place people that lost a limb got plastic replacements that were skin coloured and didn't flex. His metal arm worked like any arm, only it was stronger. If people saw it he'd be in big trouble, work like his auto mail could only be made from parts by an alchemist. They would try to get him to tell them who made it and possibly assume that either he or his dad made it. In short, they would be toast.

He often went out to just walk, today was different though. He'd been thinking it over for the past while now, they really needed money. It was good that his dad had a job now but would that supply them with enough? Even to cover the rent? He wasn't going to risk it.

He bent down and picked up a rock. It'd do fine. He dropped it in a pocket. He found more rocks as he walked along the side walk, most of them no more than small pebbles. Eventually he came to a restaurant. He went in feeling very self conscious due to his poor attair and walked straight to the back. He went in to a stall in the washroom and placed his rocks on the toilet seat. He clapped his hands together, smacked the toilet seat on either sides of the rocks and when the smoke cleared before him laid a fair number of coins. He'd created money, enough to pay for some food and a new apartment.

Now that he had money he opted to splurge a little and buy a hot bun. Not from here, he looked like a poor person, they served middle class here. He was thinking more along the lines of the nearby bakery. He walked out with the money jingling in his pockets and having found a bakery right around the corner was soon found happily stuffing his face. There was so much to do in the city if you had money. He had to resist though, he didnt want to transmutate too much.

Soon he really just couldn't stand the heat, it was unbearable in his coat. He really would have loved to go for a swim at the indoor pool, but his auto mail.. That was it, he was going to die. He found himself laying under a tree at the local park. The shade was nice. His hair which was still loose was clinging to his face, the sweat combined with not showering for a week undoubtedly made him smell lovely. But he didn't care, he had shade. He fell asleep there, the money safe in his back pocket.

When he awoke it was to the sound of Alphonse telling him to get up. Right, Al was always an early bird. "inna minute Al," he murmured before trying to drift back to sleep. He was shook roughly and robbed of sleep. He looked up angrily intent on throwing Al in a nearby lake at least when his eyes locked on a girl and no Al in sight. He remembered, Al was far away. The girl however was very close. She looked about his age although she was far cleaner. Her short dirty blond hair shinned in the afternoon sun and he couldn't help but notice was nice smelling. She had a tank top and a skirt on, _must be nice in this heat_ he thought. She was holding something out to him.

"Here", she said. "You want some water? You look a mess." He nodded and took it thankfully. Only after having downed half the bottle did he stop to breath. There was a little left and he gave it back to her with a thanks.

"It's sure hot out huh. Where I come from it rarely gets this hot." Edward stated, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh, your from up north? You just move here?" She asked.

"Ya not long ago. I'm still trying to find my way around too," he said sitting up. He felt self conscious with her there, he hadn't bothered to look presentable today. He quickly threw his hair back in a fish scale braid, nicely done from practice. She offered to show him around and the shortest routes from his house. She must have been bored or something, it'd likely take hours but he agreed. His father wouldn't expect him back till late anyway.

They stood up ready to go and to his complete embarrassment, she was taller than him. Not by much though, he was please to note. She didn't say anything though, only smiled and began the tour.

"And this way will lead you to the grocery store, you just have to cut through a few yards." Amy explained. He'd gotten her name at some point. " I don't think we actually want to walk all the way back there now though." They were in the middle of an alleyway at this moment, deciding where to go next. She'd shown him a lot of the down town considering the size of the city she knew the streets and Birch (his street) wasn't all that far away.

Ed plucked up his courage and spoke the question that had been nagging at him for the past hour. He debated in his head how to say it and everything. "We could go see a movie, I saw a theatre back there. We could go together, um, as a couple.. if you wanted to." There, he'd done it. He'd asked her out. The approach could use some work and if his cheeks would return to their normal colour he'd be doing good.

"Oh, Ed I don't.." Edward's nervousness turned to dread when he realized that was a no coming on. Dammit, he might have ruined a friendship too. Amy apparently couldn't decide on the best way to respond and the entire atmosphere practically screamed awkward. As if to mock him some guy came walking down the alley throwing tension into the already thick air. She was going to reject him, and there would be a witness. Where's a dark hole when you need one..

"Throw me your money, now!" a deep voice demanded. They turned surprised to face the stranger, he was tall intimidating and most importantly, holding a gun."Throw me your money bitch!" He demanded. Of course he was talking to Amy, Ed certainly didn't look like he had any, his clothes being second hand and all. Amy whimpered next to him and started rooting threw her bag.

Ed stood close on her left, he reached out and took her hand away from the purse. He squeezed it lightly to reassure her. The stranger go angry and said "Hey you, let her get it out! Unless you want me to shoot her. Don't think I will?" He pointed it right at her chest and stepped closer to them. He could kill her!

Ed panicked and dropped her hand. She returned to fervently looking for money, she pulled out her wallet and started counting change. He had to do something, this situation was out of control. He crouched down quickly and clapped his hands together, ready to perform alchemy. "Don't you move!" The mugger called his voice pitching, Ed became the guns new target. To his horror a gun shot was heard just before his palms hit the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A cement wall sprung up between the mugger and his victims. Behind Ed the sound of a bullet hitting a garbage can rang through his ears and the magnitude of the situation lessoned. He'd almost been shot! Again! He heard crying and turned to see Amy leaning against the Alley wall. She had been surprised to say the least, that obviously scared her. The mugger from the other side of the wall could be heard yelling curses and most importantly "That's alchemy you motherfucker! People are going to hear about this, you won't be able to leave your room you fucking dwarf!" Edward chose to ignore this.

"Are you okay? He didn't get ya with the gun did he?" Ed asked completely lacking empathy. The mention of the gun only served to upset her further. To calm her down he held her in an embrace. This is also known as taking advantage of the situation. She still held the wallet in her hand. After a time Amy put the money back with shaking hands and pulled out a handkerchief. She blew her nose with no concern for being lady like (she sounded like a fog horn) and wiped her eyes on his coat.

"Better?" Ed asked.

"Ya. I'm not upset about the money you know. I would have given it to him." Her voice was shaky but still a great improvement from the uncontrollable mass of tears she was before.

"Guess you don't want to go to a movie huh?" Ed said, a long shot but he had to ask.

"No way, I'm going home." Amy stated turning to go. She stopped dead though when she was facing the barrier he'd created. "There's a- How did you do this?"

"It's alchemy." Ed admitted. "And I know it's illegal but look how useful it is! Look I can get rid of it no problem. He repeated the process and hit the wall, it collapsed back onto the cement and molded itself in, like it had never been.

"So I almost got shot and killed because your a witch!" Amy screamed.

"No! He was going to shoot, I saved you!" Ed said trying to justify himself. Amy who had had enough ran down the alley no doubt on her way home. _That didn't go well_ Ed mused on his way to the grocery store. Maybe she would come to forgive him? She knew where he lived if she wanted to see him. Surely she would show up again, right?

It had been two weeks and no sign of Amy. To make things worse he might have to go to school in September, naught but a month away. If he could get a solid good paying job than he wouldn't have to, he was 16 and it was legal thank god. But what could he do? He had told his father about creating the money and he heard no arguments about it, it was only for a short while. They were actually planning to go apartment shopping later that day, sometime after lunch probably. In the end forging money was not employment. Maybe he could be a bodyguard? He knew how to defend himself, but then again who would want him? He was not intimidating at all.

He had made a resume for himself and was completely unimpressed with it. Job experience? None. Education? None. Place of residence? Well he had that, 53 Birch Street Canada. They'd moved soon after Ed came through the door. He didn't want to remember the place where he'd came through.

With his father out working Edward decided to hit the movies. Amy had shown him a place not to far his current apartment building. They had moved the day before to the new place, it was not as close to the down town, thus the food store was far away. The up side was that it was undeniably a large improvement. It was just nicer, it had running water and was wallpaper free.

He walked along the sidewalk careful to avoid a particularly large example of doggy excrement. He passed his dads restaurant and waved at the waiter. It was about 5:30, he was going to be early for the show. Going down the side walk lost in thought he accidentally shouldered someone, tripped on his own feet while muttering an apology and nearly bit the curb.

"Hey watch where your going shorty!" the man yelled. _Shorty_?

In a fit of rage Ed couldn't help but retaliate. "Did you say I was short and insignificant? Come here and say that you fat blimp, you poor excuse for a tall creature!" This needless to say incurred the wrath of the man who unfortunately had friends, three of them. He got a chance to evaluate his odds before they charged. They were all adults, over twenty years to the youngest and the man that insulted him so gravely was maybe thirty. They were dressed in uniform, were obviously of some importance. Police? Unlikely. Something government though, they sure as hell didn't work at Robins.

The closest two attacked unanimously, both ready to punch him, one aimed for his head. He ducked and dodged the other which was headed for his gut. He shot out and grabbed the mans arm, throwing him past behind him. The fat man who insulted him was just behind, he'd forgotten him. He took a punch to the jaw and stumbled back, tripped over one of them and landed on his ass. He heard a roar and knew he was about to get dog piled. He rolled right and landed on the street.

He sprang up and tackled one, running him into the buildings wall. He punched the man in the gut before he was lifted off his feet from behind. The man turned around, and egged his friend on "I got 'im Rodney, beat the snot outta him!" He wriggled and tried to escape to no avail. He pushed off the mans lower gut with his legs and collided with his attacked. They wrestled, he ended up underneath of course and took another blow to the face, surely soon to be followed up with another. Thinking only of survival he smacked his hands together and flattened them on the pavement. He made a solid cement tunnel appear over his face to take the hit and upon hearing the ear splitting scream touched it again to get rid of it. With a grunt he pushed the man off him only to find the two other attackers ready to reengage him.

Catching his breath he moved into fighting stance, his fists up. The first attacked with a yell, his fist drawn back. Ed jumped up and kicked him in the side, pushing him out of the way. He turned round and attacked again laying a punch to the guys gut. He had him, he laid another then kicked the man in the low blow zone. He doubled over in pain. Someone grabbed his coat from behind, with a quick twist the man was holding his jacket and Ed was free to lay a punch to the face, with his right hand. The guy was out cold. He turned gasping for air to the other two and was pleasantly surprised. They had backed away and even better, were not planning a battle strategy. He smiled and turned to continue his walk to the theatre only to find the fourth guy standing in his way, now how had he missed that?

The man was clearly of more importance than the other three. He was clean shaven, a good bit older and was commanding his friends to stand down. His dark hair was flecked with grey from old age or frustration, hard to say. He couldn't have been much older than fourty or so. He had a receding hairline and unlike his friends, was in relatively good shape. Not a muscular warehouse mind you but not a good rolly polly either. His clothes were smart, more of a suit than a uniform. He was brought out of observation as the man spoke again, "Rodney, Stockman, take Bob back and get him some ice. I have a proposition for Mister...?"

"Elric sir. And I'm really in a bit of a hurry, that guys going to need more than ice though." Ed made to move past the guy but was rudely cut off. Not wanting to fight again (it was quite difficult enough the first time thank you) he settled for simply throwing on his impatient face. The man waved his friends off, Ed turned to see them carting their wounded friend between them back down the street. It looked very awkward.

"Mr. Elric. I must say, I was impressed with that show. Those men are trained to fight, and your only what thirteen?" Ed's anger rose slightly at the miscalculation, he was sixteen! "Since your in such a hurry I'll get right to the point, I want you to work with my group. We hear about upcoming threats to the government and try to prevent them, sometimes our men go in to attack terrorists. We do the things everyone else is afraid to do, a kind of branch in the government." Under Ed's questioning gaze he went on "it's legal, the government supports our actions. I'll pay you very well of course, these are hard times after all." The man added, regarding his very sad clothes. True, but extremely rude.

"Not interested, besides I think the three of them will help you just fine. Now really, I'm going to be late if I stay here." Ed shoved past more intent on going home than to a movie. His jaw throbbed painfully and so did his back, his gut and for some reason his right foot.

"Work for me or I will tell the authorities about your witchcraft." The man threatened. That stopped Ed in his tracks who turned around his face grave.

"That's, no one will believe you, everyone knows that alchemists are the old geezers. Come on, can't you find someone else?" Ed appeared to be quite calm but inside he was panicking. They would believe, at least when they saw the house, littered with chalk and cleaned pentacles. Even more incriminating research notes and his diary, who knows what his father had. He couldn't work with this guy, the man could any time through him to the authorities.

I will pay you $50.00 an hour, more if you go into a real dangerous place sometime."Ed's eyes widened at the sum, that was a lot, he knew minimum wage was only like five dollars an hour or so, he'd make more than his dad. The man came in close and said, his voice low "I'm particularly interested in your alchemy thing, it's not common and I'm sure it will come in handy. Look at it this way, if your not protected by someone like me, it's just a matter of time until your caught throwing it around like you do." The man had a point. Ed couldn't help it, he could always quit if he had to. He was sure the man would remain silent under a death threat. Plus, this way he wouldn't have to go to school!

He nodded his head and offered his hand for a shake. The man took it and with a bright smile on his face said "I am Adam Thatcher. I work in the military, if you would follow me to my office we can fill out your contract." Under Edward's suspicious gaze he added "It's only about payment, freedom to quit if you want and the right to days off. You can read it of you like." Ed remained suspicious despite Mr. Thatcher's reassurance.

The office was not far and they arrived shortly. He filled it all out having read the fine print. The other people in the place were all looking at him curiously, perhaps visitors didn't drop by much? One person in the back of the office spoke up, probably voicing everyone else's thoughts too. "Who is that kid Thatch? This is a private facility, we don't just invite people in."

"This is your newest co worker Edward Elric. I think we'll put him on the field, so he'll be working right under you Berkley." Berkley was much younger than Mr. Thatcher, only a few years above himself. His dark hair was hidden beneath a black cap, drawing eyes to his face. He had blue eyes and kept squinting, likely because of the light. Sadly enough however, the guy was tall, over six foot any way. Stupid tall people. "Since you'll be working together, why don't you show him around for me? I expect you on time for work tomorrow Mr. Elric."

Berkley stared after his boss, not believing what had just happened to him. They were a top notch crew, no slacking or funny business. Well, that was the goal anyway. And his new boss just walks in a within days brings in a kiddy? What was he playing, they'd send in the child to guilt the terrorist into submission? This was a joke, it had to be. A few of his coworkers laughed at his misfortune, thats right, he had to show the brat around the place. Turning to his assignment he asked, his voice dragging "Where do you want to go?"

"Ya know I'd rather go home, thanks for the tour, this room is very nice. Er, guess I'll see ya tomorrow." The child answered. That wouldn't do, it wasn't a game for kids, why was he here? Even he didn't take the job seriously but what they did was dangerous, this was sick and wrong. Before he could find a way to politely voice his opinion the kid was past the desk and out the door.

Back home Mr. Elric was busy cleaning. There was no one to do it for him, his son Edward seemed to actually like living in a disorganized mess. And yes, there is such thing as an organized mess. In Ed's room you couldn't find anything. In the kitchen however you at least always knew where the food was, lost in the fridge. And so, the mess that was his sons room was currently occupying his time. If his son wouldn't clean it, he'd do it. Ed would simply have to get half and half again next week.

It was when he'd finished with the clothes and moved to the desk and lifted the lid that he found something organized. Papers lay stacked in their own corners in the drawer and writing utensils scattered on the floor of the immediate area. He wasn't going to bother touching them, until a few words caught his eye._ Sacrifice_ and _transmute _stuck out pretty well. He checked to make sure that Ed wasn't back yet and lifted out the papers.

_It was research_ he soon learned. To change oneself to an animal to fool the gate keepers and get back home. So Ed was still hoping to return. There were also a few notes involving Al, the boy probably wondered if his brother had got his body back. Mr. Elric didn't wonder, he knew. The boy had to, it would be too cruel for him not too. But this information was quality, he could use it. A complex pentacle would open the way to the gate, the disguise could potentially help someone survive the trip. They might not take his life. It was nothing short of genius. Yes, he could use this.


End file.
